Reinforced plastic tote box



p 9 A. w. VOORHEES, JR

REINFORCED PLASTIC TOTE BOX Filed Aug. 3, 1964 I N VENTOR. 4/v50/v n4 VOO/Qfiffi JP. *6 g m A 7 7 01? VE Patented Sept. 12, 1967 3,341,063 REINFORCED PLASTIC TOTE BOX Anson W. Voorhees, Jr., 3729 Blacklidge Drive, Tucson, Ariz. 85716 Filed Aug. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 386,989 6 Claims. (Cl. 22097) This invention relates to a tote box made of material having low compression reinforced to provide the same with high compression strength.

Tote boxes of plastic material, especially thermoplastic materials, are characteristically too weak to withstand heavy loading without deformation or creep, an object of the present invention being to provide boxes or containers which, when nested or stacked, are adapted to support loads which are in excess of those capable of being supported by un-reinforced boxes or containers of the same materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tote box, as characterized above, in which the load transmission from box to box, in a stack thereof, rather than directly downward, is both downward and around the corners of the boxes that are stacked. Thus, the load on each box is transferred from the upper end of one side to the bottom of an adjacent side so that the bearing forces between adjacent boxes are phased 90, the loading forces extending through the box corners for most efficient rigidity to support necessary loading.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tote box, as above outlined, in which the bearing faces are provided in the bottoms of nesting recesses, thereby insuring nonadisplaceable stacking of the boxes.

The invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The above objects are realized in a plastic tote box that is provided with stacking recesses below the top surface of the box, with said recesses located rearward from the upper corners of the box a sufficient distance to enable the bottom corners of a box thereabove to bear on the stacking faces of said recesses. In the preferred form of the box, corner reinforcements of metal or other stiff rnaterial line the outside of the box but may also be embedded in the box Walls, said reinforcements being formed to support the bearing surfaces of said recesses and to transmit the loads thereon around the corners of the box to the lower bearing portions that are adapted to be supported on the bearing surfaces of recesses in a lower box.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description and which is based on the accompanying drawings. However, said drawings merely show, and the following description merely describes, preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are given by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred form of tote box according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing two boxes, as in FIG. 1, in stacked, nested position.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of said box.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the characteristic portion of the box at two adjacent corners thereof.

FIG. 5 is a similar View showing the characteristic portion of the box at the other two corners of the box.

With more particular reference to the form shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the tote box comprises a plastic body '10 of generally polygonal and preferably rectangular form, and reinforcing members 11 at two adjacent corners and reinforcing members 12 at the other two adjacent corners of said body.

The body 10 that is illustrated is formed to have a bottom 15 from which upwardly extend walls 16, 17, 18 and 1'9 that taper or flare toward their top portions and are capped by a surrounding flange 20, which is omitted from the fragmentary parts of the box walls as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Vertical corner insets 21 are-defined by walls 22 and 23 at the normal corner locations where one edge of wall 18 would otherwise join wall 17 and the opposite edge of said wall 18 would otherwise join wall 19. Vertical corner insets 24 are defined by walls 25 and 26 at the normal corner locations where one edge of wall 16 would otherwise join wall 17 and the opposite edge of said wall 16 would otherwise join wall 19.

At the top of the body, said vertical corner insets 21 and 24 terminate at widened portions of the top flange 20. As best seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, a nesting socket 27 is formed in widened portion of flange 20in the angle formed between inset walls 22 and 23, each said socket 27 having a horizontal stacking seat 28. Also a complementary nesting socket 29 is formed in said widened portion of flange 20 in the angle formed between inset Walls 25 and 26, each said socket 29 having a horizontal stacking seat 30. FIG. 1 shows that the sockets 27 are rectangular with their longer dimensions extending along the walls 22, and that the sockets 29 also are rectangular, and their longer dimensions extend along the walls 25 normal to walls 22 and thus complementary to sockets 27.

The purpose of the complementary arrangement of the nesting sockets 27 and 29 and their respective nesting seats 28 and 30 is illustrated at FIG. 2 showing two boxes, one stacked upon the other. Each box is rotated degrees from the other so that the wall 18 of the upper box is directly above the opposite wall 16 of the lower box and so that the corner insets 21 and 24 of the lower box will be directly underneath the opposing bottom corners of the insets 24 and 21 respectively of the upper boxes, and the corner portions of these inset walls 22 and 25 will fit into the respective opposing complementary nesting sockets 29 and 27 and upon the stacking seats 30 and 28. With this arrangement,-with the corners fitting snugly in the nesting sockets one box is supported upon the other at only the stacking seats, with all of the load immediately below the stacking seats. The configuration of the boxes permits nesting together of a group of boxes when all are oriented in the same direction but, when otherwise oriented 180 degrees apart, they will stack one upon the top of another. It is manifest that the entire weight of a group of stacked boxes will be transmitted downwardly through a narrow section of the boxes at the corner insets 21 and 24.

The reinforcing members 11 and 12 are applied and fitted into these corner insets 21 and 24 with lapping portions at the corners where walls 18 and 22, 17 and 25, and 19 and 25 meet. Such members 11 and 12 may be molded into said corners as inserts or otherwise secured in position as by adhesion to the surface of the boxes to thus serve as stiffening means.

The two reinforcing members 11 are alike but of opposite hand, the same being formed of rigid sheet material such as a light gage sheet metal, each reinforcing member including a base wall 31 and a lap wall 32, normal thereto and at one side thereof, the base wall 31 fitting against the inset wall 22 and the lapping wall 32 fitting against the box wall 18. The reinforcing members 11 also include a flange wall 33 at its inner corner which fits against the inset wall 23, a horizontal support shelf 34 at its upper end which is in support engagement with the undersurface of the stacking seat 28 of each nesting socket 27, and a bearing shelf 35 at the lower end of an end which is in engagement with the undersurface of the bottom of the box.

The reinforcing members 12 are also alike but of opposite hand, each comprising a base wall 36 and a lapping wall 37, the base wall 36 fitting against the inset wall and each lapping Wall 37 fitting against the box wall 17 or 19 at the respective sides of the box. The reinforcing members also include a flange Wall 38 at its inner corner which fits against the inset wall 26, a horizontal support shelf 39 at its upper end which is in support engagement with the undersurface of the stacking seat of each complementary nesting socket 29 and a bearing shelf 40 at the lower end which is in engagement with the undersurface of the bottom 15' of the box.

It will be seen that any load on the stacking seats 28 and 30 is transmitted first to the support shelves 34 and 39 underneath the seat and thence downwardly through the rigid angled reinforcing members 11 and 12 and to the bottom bearing shelves and 40 underneath the box bottom and no load is imparted to the walls of the box itself. These reinforcing members 11 and 12 made of a rigid material such as sheet metal will be far stronger than the material from which the plastic box is made, it being desirable to form the plastic box as a comparatively thin-walled member of any thermoplastic type of resin easy to form by a vacuum-draw operation. Accordingly, when several of the boxes are stacked as by orienting one 180 degrees with respect to the other as hereinbefore described, any load in the box or upon the stacking seats 28 and 30 thereabove is transferred directly to the reinforcing members 11 and 12 and thence downwardly to the under bearing shelves 35 and 39 to rest directly upon the complementary stacking seats 30 and 28 respectively of the box underneath.

It is to be noted that these stiffener members 11 and 12 are preferably thin, metal plates which may be molded into the walls of the box members as the box members are being formed as by vacuum-draw operations. However, it is also to be noted that the siffener members may be of material similar to the box members such as thermoplastic resins which may be molded at the same time the box members are formed to provide an appearance of a thickened corner section. Another mode of forming the stiffener members is to laminate them to the finished box as an operation subsequent to the initial operation.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what are now contemplated to be the best modes of carrying out the invention, the constructions are, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particular forms of construc tion illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a nest-stack type of container comprising a polygonal plastic body having a bottom, upwardly flaring side walls and inset corners in the wall corners, and a top flange around the upper portion of the walls having socketed seats at each inset corner, and with the inset corners and seats being arranged as complementary-oriented pairs to permit nesting of one box into another when the boxes are oriented in a common manner, and to permit stacking of the boxes when they are rotated to a position opposite the aforesaid common orientation, whereby when stacked, corner-bottom portions at the inset corners of an upper box rest upon the complementaryopposing seats, the improvement comprising: a stiffening means at each inset corner having an upper shelf at the underside of the said stacking seat thereof and a lower shelf underneath the said corner bottom-portion thereof and an upright flat member between the shelves adapted to resist a compressive load upon the stacking seat.

2. In the organization set forth in claim 1 wherein said fiat member is a plate afiixed to the surface of the box side in a manner such as not to interfere with the nesting of one box within another when the boxes are in common orientation.

3. In the organization set forth in claim 2 wherein the stiffening plate is a fiat, angled member having a base wall lying against one side of a corner recess and the other side against the adjacent container side wall.

4. In the organization set forth in claim 1 wherein the respective shelves are turned outwardly and inwardly from the plate.

5. In the organization set forth in claim 1 wherein said stiffening means is embedded within the box corners.

6. In the organization set forth in claim 1 wherein the stiffening means is formed integrally With each box corner.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,300,317 10/ 1942 Scherer 22071 2,655,283 1/ 1953 Moldt 220-97 2,676,729 4/ 1954 Neville 22073 X 3,130,860 4/1964 Oberkrcher 22097 3,186,586 6/1965 Box 22097 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,304,633 8/ 1962 France. 1,358,471 3/1964 France.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE E. LOWRANCE, Examiner. 

1. IN A NEST-STACK TYPE OF CONTAINER COMPRISING A POLYGONAL PLASTIC BODY HAVING A BOTTOM, UPWARDLY FLARING SIDE WALLS AND INSET CORNERS IN THE WALL CORNERS, AND A TOP FLANGE AROUND THE UPPER PORTION OF THE WALLS HAVING SOCKETED SEATS AT EACH INSERT CORNER, AND WITH THE INSET CORNERS AND SEATS BEING ARRANGED AS COMPLEMENTARY-ORIENTED PAIRS TO PERMIT NESTING OF ONE BOX INTO ANOTHER WHEN THE BOXES ARE ORIENTED IN A COMMON MANNER, AND TO PERMIT STACKING OF THE BOXES WHEN THEY ARE ROTATED TO A POSITION OPPOSITE THE AFORESAID COMMON ORIENTATION WHEREBY WHEN STACKED, CORNER-BOTTOM PORTION AT THE INSET CORNERS OF AN UPPER BOX REST UPON THE COMPLEMENTARYOPPOSING SEATS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: A STIFFENING MEANS AT EACH INSET CORNER HAVING AN UPPER SHELF AT THE UNDERSIDE OF THE SAID STACKING SEAT THEREOF AND A LOWER SHELF UNDERNEATH THE SAID CORNER BOTTOM-PORTION THEREOF AND AN UPRIGHT FLAT MEMBER BETWEEN THE SHELVES ADAPTED TO RESIST A COMPRESSIVE LOAD UPON THE STACKING SEAT. 